Marla had always wanted to be a teacher, and she knew she was on her way after getting into the English Education major at BYU. After being accepted into the program, she started thinking of all the ways that she was going to someday improve learning in her classroom—she even contacted an old teacher who had successfully petitioned the Board of Directors for curriculum changes incorporating his ideas [5. Challenging Authority/ Changing Standards]. She imagined herself someday standing at an education awards ceremony [3. Influential Event]. To even be nominated for awards such as the “Teacher of the Year” or “Friend of Education” was a sincere compliment, and these meetings were a great opportunity for educators to learn from each other in order to help their students find success.
Soon, however, Marla realized that even though she knew what
she wanted to do, she didn’t know how to get there. Wracked with anxiety, Marla
went to visit an advisor at BYU, who asked her if she had at least an idea of
where she wanted to live post-graduation.
“I’ve considered the East Coast—I grew up there,” said
Marla.
“Well,” replied the advisor, “you have a few choices. You
could switch your major to English, and then after you graduate, you could go
to a school in your preferred state and do certification classes there.
However, I would instead recommend calling some school systems on the east
coast. Find out what their typical requirements are for teachers. If they are
similar to Utah’s, then stick with your major and do your certification and
student teaching here. If you end up moving out of Utah, you can take the certification
tests [2. Regulating Standard] required
by that particular state and you’ll be eligible to teach!”
Marla got into contact with a few different school systems
in Virginia. Some brief research led her to the website of the Virginia Departmentof Education [1. Authoritative
Organization]. She read through a few of the VEA (Virginia Education
Association) news releases [4.
Authoritative Publication] and was pleased to find the words of few of her
old teachers in these reports. Finally, she found some job applications, and was
then able to develop a general plan. The advisor’s second recommendation would
be perfect! Because BYU is accredited, Virginia valued the teaching experiences
she would receive here, and the certification she could receive there. 
I am surprised by how positive your story came out. The majority of the stories I've read so far, mine included, have had some sort of let down ending due to the standard. Your story breaks that mold.
ReplyDeleteYour story reminded me of my older sister, who is a 4th grade teacher. She majored in humanities and then got her masters in Education in DC. Your story mirrored almost exactly what her experience was.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI've kind of mentioned this already, but I love how these posts have kept all of the required aspects for the assignment but also are very inspiring! I like the way you wrote your post... I think this skill and the flow is what the great leaders of our history and present have mastered in order to influence people to do what they wish.
ReplyDeletei loved how your story was so fluid. it was a great story that was written really well. And Marla seems really familiar. I also learned a lot about requirements for English teachers. I did not know they were the same here as on the east coast.
ReplyDelete